Sculpture

THEO HARPER

Theo Harper (b.1986, London) is an Artist based in Northumberland (UK). Guardian like and Organic, the artefacts that continue to evolve from his processes are defending an age-old battle between the human experience of the inside, and the outside. Clay at the core; his work transforms from primitive origins into far-removed future archaeologies. Harper walks a fine line between beauty and grotesque dismemberment, taking on characters of human-like formations seeming vulnerable to collapse.

He explores making systems, reinventing traditional craft techniques and digital processes, moving into areas not yet discovered. Consequently, Theo’s work travels in various evolutionary directions, manifesting as physical and digital sculpture, installation, film and drawing. Theo explores and asks important questions about traditional and contemporary materials, processes, and landscapes, seeking an understanding of the varied environments we live within. A constant inquiry: the work celebrates uniqueness and risk-taking in making.

PORTFOLIO OF RECENT WORKS

2018-2023

Shield

2021

Glazed Ceramic,
82x96x62 cm

Shield

2021
Glazed Ceramic, 82x96x62 cm

Shield was the last big sculptural work that I made at EKWC in 2021. The project was fully funded by the Arts and Humanities research council (AHRC) through a CDT PhD studentship between Northumbria and Sunderland University.

I wanted to create a sculptural defence at the opening of my studio. I wanted to hide the inner workings of what goes on underneath or behind things. It was a playful encounter, made shortly after an intense period of lockdowns in the UK, the experience of making sculpture among other international artists was incredibly freeing. The sculpture is made by hand-printing layers of clay in a highly ritualistic and crafted manner. Shield was then painted with glaze and fired with Origin in the same kiln to 1300 degrees; it measures 82x96x62 cm.

Process

Origin

2021

Glazed Ceramic
128 x 88 x 78 cm

Origin

2021

Glazed Ceramic
128 x 88 x 78 cm

Origin brings together many of the different ways of making that I had been experimenting with between 2018-21. I had got to the point where my prototyping could be really tested as a way of making digital designs from a physical material origin. The sculpture is made by hand-printing layers of clay in a highly ritualistic and crafted manner coupled with movement tracking technology (more can be read about the process and experience here; ceramicsnow.org ). Origin was then painted with an oxide and fired with Shield in the same kiln to 1300 degrees. The form itself comes from the grotesqueness of material harvest in a claw like totem.

The project was fully funded by the Arts and Humanities research council (AHRC) through a CDT PhD studentship between Northumbria and Sunderland University.

Origin, Details, 128 x 88 x 78 cm

Process

Linking clay with computer-aided design through electromagnetic movement capture. The data captured from Origin creates a digital copy derived from the actual experience of making the clay sculpture. EKWC, 2021

Jest

2021

Ceramic
74 x 65 x 79 cm

Jest

2021

Glazed Ceramic
128 x 88 x 78 cm

Jest plays on taking the process of Origin even further by using the captured data to mill a polystyrene mould so that the experience of making it could be re-played. Having a history of working with polystyrene (written about in Appendix B p188-194) I found it interesting to reflect on the excavations that the CNC was making, led by movements responding to clay. Machinery and tooling have this ability to treat any material in a blanket fashion. They can apply their instructions without hesitation and impose form onto material. In this case, it is the movements of HPC into polystyrene. The sculpture was completed by hand-printing layers of clay in a highly ritualistic and crafted manner back into the polystyrene one-time mould. Jest was fired in a gas kiln, in reduction, so that the clay would turn an iridescent purple.

The project was fully funded by the Arts and Humanities research council (AHRC) through a CDT PhD studentship between Northumbria and Sunderland University.

Process

Lands End

2014

Cornish Coast

Lands End

2014
Cornish Coast

The polishing exists on the Cornish coast and connects process to place. It is slowly retuning back to its original lichen covered face. There is now a slightly diverted route from the costal path made by inquisitive ramblers. The work draws on natural/ unnatural processes and contradictions that we encounter in our natural and man-made environments.

The Cornish granite was polished over 3 days using water pumped from the sea. Lands’ End exists as a permanent intervention in the Landscape. Its making was recorded on camera and edited into this film during the UK lockdown in 2021. Initially the polishing was created for a project that formed part of a wider narrative that was shown as a series of hand developed colour photographic prints together with an arrangement of sculptural artefacts.

It contributes to a better world by touching on the possibilities of making. Its processes are caring, but also destructive. It mirrors the power of the sea and the underlying geologic processes that humans live within.